The FTX hearing took place on Tuesday in front of the House Financial Services Committee. People thought it would be fairly low-key because Sam Bankman-Fried was a no-show due to the extradition he faces after being charged criminally with fraud. But thanks to Rep. Maxine Waters, the outgoing chair of the committee, there were some real fireworks as usual with the crazy California politician.
John Ray, the current FTX CEO, is working hard to clean up the mess left behind by Bankman-Fried. He appeared before the committee and gave testimony that “FTX commingled customer funds with the FTX Foundation and affiliated nonprofits to advance SBF’s vanity projects and progressive causes.”
Ray went further with the committee telling them that there were “absolutely no internal controls whatsoever” when it came to recordkeeping.
Ray said, “It’s one of the worst from a documentation standpoint. Even in the most failed companies you have a fair roadmap of what happened. We’re dealing with literally, sort of a paperless bankruptcy, in terms of how they created the company.”
He also talked about how hard it was to trace and track assets in the crypto world and how his job was now unprecedented in terms of the lack of documentation.
The fireworks began when out of nowhere Waters attempted to end the hearing without all of the committee members having a chance to ask questions. She began her closing remarks and even thanked Ray for his testimony, but Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) just kept trying to get her attention and he finally asked for his turn to question the witness. An aide finally had to whisper in Water’s ear, but she continued with her closing remarks and just ignored Gooden.
But Rep. Gooden raised his voice again and requested a “parliamentary inquiry.” Waters looked angrily in Gooden’s direction and begrudgingly allowed him his five minutes of questioning.
Fun day in Washington. Watch:
Lmfao Rep. Maxine Waters tried to end the FTX hearing before Rep. @Lancegooden got a chance to question the witnesses, who had to remind her that all the members of a committee are entitled to questions. pic.twitter.com/wYTxSsLVg3
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 13, 2022
